Quality of education benefits from regional school districts

Regional school districts first started appearing in a post-war period in Massachusetts, when the 1949 Regional School Acts was authorized. Among nearly 300 total academic school districts in the state, there are now 32 regional K-12 school districts — along with 20 regional districts just for shared high schools — including several in the Greater Taunton area.

Regional school districts first started appearing in a post-war period in Massachusetts, when the 1949 Regional School Acts was authorized. Among nearly 300 total academic school districts in the state, there are now 32 regional K-12 school districts — along with 20 regional districts just for shared high schools — including several in the Greater Taunton area.

The attraction to regionalization is strength in numbers.

“Regional school districts allow small towns to come together with a big enough base to offer good education for students,” said Stephen Hemman, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools. “For small town districts, it’s often difficult. They don’t have the resources that would allow for more diverse classes; with a smaller district there is a less of a possibility of (Advanced Placement) courses. With a regional district, you improve the education quality of the students.”

Somerset Berkley

The Somerset Berkley Regional School District is one of the newest regionalized school districts in the state, with a shared high school for around 930 students. The two towns were at a crossroads in 2010, after more than 25 years of the smaller town of Berkley sending its students to Somerset High School under a tuition agreement. The towns could have parted ways, and Berkley theoretically could have built its own school.

The issue was studied through a Regional Planning Board approved by both towns in 2009, and voters then gave the green light to a newly formed regional district that came into effect in July 2011, after the state agreed to cover 66 percent of reimbursable costs for a new shared $82 million high school opening in 2014. The goal was that students from both towns would benefit from a lasting regional school district that works to optimize the financial resources of each community, in addition to the academic talent and other qualities that students from both towns provide.

“When Berkley was sending their students to Somerset on a tuition basis, there was a contractual agreement between two communities but there wasn’t a permanent relationship,” said Richard Peirce, chairman of the regional school committee. “There are those in the community who say the reason we regionalized was to pay for the new high school. I never subscribed to that position. The Berkley students are a very important part of the community. They contribute a great deal academically. They are involved in extracurricular activities.

“Berkley students make up 25 percent of the student body,” Peirce said. “If we lost 25 percent of our student body in one year, it would have dramatically impacted the quality of education we could provide in our high school.”

Peirce said that under the regional agreement, the cost per student from Berkley has increased, based on a state formula focused on enrollment, making the town’s cost more equitable with Somerset. Peirce said the regional budget is around $13.3 million.

Page 2 of 3 - One benefit for the district that came with high school regionalization was that it was granted 65 percent reimbursement from the state for all students bussed to school, Peirce said. Such regional district transportation reimbursements are not available for municipal school districts, and they are helpful because transportation is a major cost for the district, he said. The current transportation budget for the regional district is $809,000.

At this point, the towns are not ready to put full regionalization on the table, which would transform three districts into one, by combining the Berkley kindergarten-to-Grade-8 system, Somerset K-8 system and the regional high school district. Peirce said he is sure there are residents who would welcome full regionalization, although from his point of view local control of the schools remains important to many voters.

But Peirce said the regional school committee formed a subcommittee to explore more ways the districts can collaborate. He mentioned that, in terms of buying resources, the towns have already been able to save money by regional purchasing of natural gas for heating. Although, Pierce said overall supplies are a relatively small part of the budget, especially when compared to staffing.

He also speculated about the potential for full regionalization, and what benefits it can bring if the towns ever agree to it in the future.

“I’m not advocating (for full regionalization) at this point,” he said. “It’s an issue where we need to have a lot of conversation … There are probably academic advantages to everyone coming to the high school having gone through elementary and middle with the same curriculum. There may be resources for example that could be shared like music education, or art, where one district may be stronger than another ... There are always efficiencies in one administration as opposed to three.”

Bridgewater-Raynham

For the Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School District, Superintendent Jacqueline Forbes said she definitely sees dividends when it comes to combined resources. Bridgewater-Raynham, which formed as a secondary regional system in the 1960s before becoming fully regionalized in the mid-1990s, is the second largest regional district in the state with around 5,500 students, next to the Wachusett Regional School District.

“The advantage, number one, is that it is far more cost-effective for communities,” Forbes said. “You have one high school. Then one central office. You don’t need two superintendents, you have one. That saves a huge salary. Plus, you would only need one Special Ed. department, and one director of services, for example. It reduces cost of overhead for operating the district. That’s a tremendous savings.”

For years, there was debate about whether Bridgewater was not paying their fair share for the regional system. In 2010, with 37.7 percent of the student population, Raynham was paying 39.1 percent of the district budget. There was a study of the issue, but ultimately efforts to split the region were abandoned during a November 2012 Raynham Town Meeting, among concerns about $1.4 million in new taxes that would result from the split.

Page 3 of 3 - Forbes said the benefits of regionalization can be seen in the diverse course offerings that B-R is able to support.

“We have a larger high school so we can provide more electives,” she said. “We have a wider range of foreign languages. We have Mandarin Chinese because we have enough kids who sign up for it. We have multiple pathways for math, and eight different AP course offerings.”

Another benefit of a regionalized school district is in athletics. B-R has a large Division I athletic program, which is supported by the collective talents and resources from each town.

From the district’s perspective, the difficulties that can come with regionalization are minimal. Forbes said that it takes longer to get tasks accomplished in a regional system, simply because school officials must reach out and work with two sets of town officials. But she said that’s absolutely not a downside for the students who benefit from the regional system.

“I think it’s a far more cost-effective way to educate our kids to give them better services,” Forbes said. “It still gives the towns a sense of ownership in the schools when you are in a regional.”